Wouldn't have it any other way
by Pluh
Summary: A story that shows how strong the bond between Nora and Piper becomes as they make their way through the Commonwealth while they try to survive. They will be pushed to their limits and need the support of one another if they are going to be successful in their journey together to find Shaun all while trying to create a safe future for them all to live in.
1. I am become death, destroyer of worlds

**A/N:** I wanted to thank all of those who took the time to read my Fallout 4 story. The game has to be one of the most in depth, exciting and addicting games I've ever played, and even though it doesn't need one, I wanted to write a story about my play through and I hope you enjoy.

* * *

 **"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." J. Robert Oppenheimer**

 **March 5, 2288**

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

 _Piper,_

 _Those are some of the first words you ever said to me. More importantly they are the first words I paid attention to after I woke up to this nightmare that is my life, or I should say our life. Yet that simple phrase, just like you, means more to me then I can ever express, and I need you to know that I never thought I'd find happiness until I met you. In the beginning when I crawled out of that vault all I wanted to do was destroy the entire commonwealth until I found out what happened. I met Preston and all of the others helped me try to understand what had happened, but I didn't care what they had to say because no one seemed to listen about Shaun, and Nate, but you did. It may have started off as you wanting a story to print, but I could tell after our first conversation that I became more to you then just words on paper, just like you became more to me than just a reporter trying to get the truth. It is part of the reason why I am writing 've been there for me when I needed you the most and supported me along the way while we trekked across this wasteland trying to make it a better place to live. You've seen me at my worst and my best during my hunt for Shaun more so than anyone else yet you have never judged me. You put me back together after I got distracted and set off a bottlecap mine and stayed by my side through my entire recovery. I think that's when I realized my feelings for you were real, and I never wanted you away from me again._

 _Truth be told that distraction was you, or at least a part of you. It's actually my favorite part of you, and why I always insisted that you walk in front of me on missions. Now I know you're blushing, and I hope I made you smile that beautiful smile just now. Just like I hope I can continue to see you smile for years to come. I said that you were perfect for me and I meant it even if it took me nearly losing a leg to realize it._

 _This is why this is so hard for me to say to you in person, so instead I am writing this to tell you that I can only hope that if we do see each other again after this is all over, that it will be with my son, this letter won't have to be given to you, and we can be the family that we talked about. The problem is the more time that passes as I sit here trying to write this, the more my fears of having to stay behind to set off the nuke to end the control the Institute has over us becomes a reality. No one has told me otherwise and we are getting closer to finally ending this. I know this is me being a coward but I cannot face you knowing that I may hurt you even though you are stronger than anyone I've ever met. I know it doesn't make any sense and I'm sorry, you deserve better, but I am more scared of you hating me and not coming with me than me making peace with the fact that I may not return and only get to spend a few moments with my son. You've changed my priorities of what I want but what I wasn't doesn't matter if what we started isn't finished, so you must carry on. There are, and have been so many unknowns, but you have been the one stable thing in my life and I love you for it. So I'm asking you to be that same stable person now for Shaun and Nat, they are going to need it._

 _Yours, always, Nora._

* * *

"Codsworth?" Nora calls for her longtime assistant with a shaky voice. Her vision blurs as tears form while she folds the note she just finished writing to her lover. She wants to throw it in the fire and think about the best possible outcome but her mind isn't cooperating.

"You called Mum?" The floating robot answers as he enters the sole survivors bedroom, and moves next to her where she is sitting on the bed.

The 'Mister Handy' butler was the first thing she saw that wasn't mutated and didn't want to kill her when she left Vault 111, and has been by her side ever since. He tried to make it easier for Nora and console her when she spoke of her son's kidnapping and husband's murder and she has appreciated it. He did as much as he could for her, and managed to help her more than most, and she needs him to do this one last thing for her.

"I need you to give this to Piper after this is all over with." Nora says while she hands the paper to Codsworth.

She looks up at the enormous teleportation device they have been constructing in order to reach this secret faction with disdain. This is the final quest to bring back her son and God help those that were apart of his abduction. Kellogg was just the beginning and even though she nearly lost all hope of ever finding Shaun after she killed him it was worth it. It may have been her addiction to psycho, or her dependence on alcohol but it felt good to track and kill the man that took Shaun and killed her husband; almost too good. But Nora knows that destroying the faction that did this to her must happen so another family will not have to deal with her pain. It is a pain that is deep within her sole and cannot be understood by anyone even though one person tries.

Piper Wright, the news reporter from Diamond City has been accompanying her on missions since finding out about Nora's story. Along the way a relationship formed and now just the thought of her name brings a smile to Nora's face, a warm feeling in her heart, and tears to her eyes. Nora's emotions are all over the place and she has to keep them at bay before her lover returns from Diamond City, so they can have one last night together before their quest. Her lips curl up at the memories of how animated Piper can be when she gets excited or aggravated. How nervous and lost for words she is when Nora flirts with her, or gives her a certain look. That smile is nearly erased when the thought of this being their last few moments together, and her never being able to see Piper again overtakes everything else.

"A private letter to Ms. Wright. I will guard it with my life." Codsworth's British accent breaks her out of her dark thoughts. He always has a way to ease the tension with some of his offhanded remarks, especially during battle, but not this time.

"Please make sure she gets it after she comes back, and not before." Nora insists even though she needs to be more specific on the timeframe.

"She will not receive it a moment sooner." He says with a little hint of sarcasm.

"Is everything okay?" He asks after "staring" at her for a moment.

"I'm alright, thank you." She says unconvincingly with a slight nod.

She opens a second bottle and takes a shot of Bourbon that she has become so dependent on in order to try and become numb. Enjoying the slight burn as it dulls her senses she takes another, and can hear a sigh of contempt come from Codsworth. She knows she drinks too much, but drinking one bottle just doesn't work as well anymore.

"May I ask why you won't be able to give this to her?" He asks suspiciously. "Or is it a surprise?"

"It's a surprise." She says quickly and hopes he doesn't push anymore on the subject.

"Oh how I do hope it is a proposal! You know how much I like to dress up proper and what better time than a wedding!"

"It's not, that." She says with a laugh. Her smile leaves her face altogether at the thought of never being able to spend the rest of her days with her son and the woman she loves.

"Not yet, anyway." The lone survivor of Vault 111 places the bottle on the table after taking one last swig. Tonight is important and she doesn't want to be inebriated, yet she can't allow her emotions to get the better of her and let slip what she just wrote, so slightly drunk will have to do; if there is such a thing.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asks again, before leaving the room. The concern in his voice is surprising but sincere.

"I am, I just cannot believe we've come this far and now it could be all over with in a few hours." She lies about her actual thoughts and what may come, but it is still amazing to realize that she can be reunited with her son.

"Ah yes, we could be seeing young Shaun quite soon. I do hope he recognizes me." Codsworth's upbeat attitude and all around oddness causes a smile to form even if it is forced. The fact that her son will more than likely not recognize any of them since he was barely six months old the last time she saw him is always on her mind.

"I'm so excited I think I'll go get the polish ready. Do you think Mama murphy will help polish my unreachables if I ask her?"

"She may, but only if you ask nicely enough." Nora says with a laugh. "Honestly Codsworth, I can't stop thinking about the journey we've been on and what it has taken to get to this point. I just wish Nate was here to see everything that we have done."

"As do I. His passing is still upsetting, but on a good note it has been an adventure." The robots demeanor changes from solemn to excited. "One that I've taken the liberty of recording what I can so that it may be shared with master Shaun. It is quite the story he will hear of his mother the hero."

Of course he'd make it a point to say that again, and make her feel worse. The word hero is not something she'd describe herself while thinking back to what she has done and been through. Lucky yes, but not a hero, and as she continues to prepare Pipers favorite meal, which is anything not radioactive, toxic, or something you don't need a Radaway after you eat, her thoughts go back to that fateful day in 2077 that would be the beginning of her story.

 **October 23, 2077**

"Good morning! Vault-Tec calling!" Nora hears as she opens her front door.

The newly blessed mother feigns a smile as she realizes that they can no longer ignore the vault-tec representative. The man means well but it always sounds like he's trying to sell them something they already have.

"He's persistent I'll give him that." Her husband Nate says from the living room which causes her to turn her head towards him so she can silently chastise him for making her laugh in his face.

It is a gorgeous day and Nora wants to get this conversation over with so they can all go to the park and enjoy the afternoon. Considering the fact that the Vault-tec rep wants to be anywhere but here is a good sign that they will be able to do just that.

"I'm uh... In a bit of a rush." His demeanor changes with this sentence and Nora realizes she may have hit a nerve.

"Vault-Tec? Remind me again."

"Why we're about you ma'am! And helping secure your future." He begins his sales pitch again, and she cannot understand why he is so rushed. Sure tensions are high and war is possible, but they haven't exactly dropped the bomb yet.

"You see, Vault- Tec is the foremost builder of state-of-the-art underground fallout shelters." Nothing so heinous as Atomic warfare has happened yet, but just talking about it makes Nora want to hold her baby tighter.

"Vaults if you will." The vault tec rep's voice brings her thoughts to the here and now and distracts her enough from leaving to get Shaun.

"Luxury accommodations, where you can wait out the horrors of nuclear devastation." He is making it sound so much worse than what the news is reporting and she can only pray that they won't have to use this offered sanctuary, and have enough room if they do.

"You can't begin to know how happy I am to finally speak with you. I've been trying for days. It's a matter of utmost urgency, I assure you." This causes Nora to turn to look for her husband for a different reason; she's now scared.

"What's so important?" She asks, hoping this man is only paranoid but it doesn't seem to be the case.

"Why nothing less than your entire future. If you hadn't noticed, ma'am, this country has gone to heck in a handbasket. If you'll excuse my language. The big kaboom...it's inevitable, I'm afraid. And coming sooner than you may think. If you catch my meaning" This get her attention even more. How would a vault-tec rep know this?

The deliberate way he his saying all of this almost sounds like he has a gun to his head and speaking in code. She feels her husband's hand on her shoulder and begins to feel a little better but the concerned look on his face isn't helping matters at all now.

"Now I know you're a busy woman, so I won't take up much of your time. Time being a, um, precious commodity. I'm here today to tell you that because of your family's service to our country, you have been preselected for entrance into the local vault. Vault 111."

"Sounds great." She says impatiently. All Nora wants is to do is kiss her husband, run to her child, and leave for the Vault, now.

The rest of the conversation was a blur other than the rep mentioning total atomic annihilation again and asking information about the three of them that didn't seem necessary. It is unreal to think that atomic warfare is happening again, but this time it is on a grander scale and everyone's life is in danger. In what seems like seconds after she closes the door, the news announces an attack in New York and Pennsylvania.

The feed cuts out and the next thing she knows she is running with her family for their lives to get into the vault. It is upsetting to think about all of those who did not make it to safety in time, and she says a silent prayer for them as she is being rushed through the place they are going to call home for the foreseeable future. They get to their destination and are ordered to put on a blue suit and climb into a decontamination chamber. Something feels off but no one questions since these people just saved their lives. Climbing into the pod she gives one last look to the two most important people in her life, tells them she loves them, and breaths a sigh of relief as the door to the pod closes and seals them all safely inside.

"I love you. Both of you!"

Within moments everything goes dark and she is soon asleep, and unfortunately for Nora more than one hundred and fifty years will have passed before she wakes up to bare witness to one of the worst things imaginable. She hopes this is only a dream, but these images will haunt her thoughts while she slumbers until she finally wakes up to the horrifying truth. Her child is gone, ripped from his father's arms, and her husband is dead after he is shot and killed to protect him. Years later this will ultimately put her on the path to find the truth, and her son while becoming a hero to those she meets along the way.


	2. It worked Dr Oppenheimer

**March 5, 2288**

"Of course it fucking worked!" Nora says as she slams her fist onto the table she is sitting at, causing the plates of each place settings to shake, and glasses of purified water and her whiskey to tip over.

The Quote; "It Worked!" from the lead physicist who headed up the Manhattan Project was said after the bomb was successfully tested, and it's now all Nora can think about. Even though she was a lawyer Nora had always been fascinated by history and always wished that people would follow the phrase; "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

"No truer words have ever been spoken." Nora says, while looking out over the charred remains of the commonwealth. It's hard to believe that it only took a matter of two hours to annihilate the planet, and in turn force people to live in horrendous conditions for the rest of their days.

Having time to think, the lone Vault 111 survivor has been going over the last few months in her mind and she eventually began to think about when this all started, and who was responsible. It was during the middle of the twentieth century during World War II when Humans were finding out just how creative we could be. But with more creation became more uncertainty amongst the different countries that were considered super powers. Each country wanted to be the leader in technology and weapons, and as a result the Manhattan Project was created because of how fearful the United States became due to their enemies creating and eventually using Nuclear weapons against them.

They felt that they could and should be the only nation to have such a weapon because _they_ could be responsible with this power, and it became the thought process of every American during that time, which was obviously delusional on their part. So they rounded up the best and the brightest and sat them in a room, telling them to build a bomb that could destroy everything in order to obtain peace. It resulted in the war ending after two atomic bombs were detonated and it showed the world the power that had been created. Well that "responsibility" of creating that power showed other nations what real power was, and the "last resort" would eventually kill hundreds of millions of people a little more than a hundred years later during the "Great War," in the time it takes to make coffee, and read the paper. It devastated the planet and all of those that survived were left to deal with the fallout for generations to come. To live a life in constant fear from enemies, both Human and other, if you want to call this a life, that is now a daily routine. So yes their creation worked very well and the scars are there to prove it, but no we didn't learn from our past, so the creators of this finely constructed weapon and those that decided to use it can fuck off.

Nora scoffs at her thoughts as she stands, then downs the contents of her glass while she fixes the place settings. This needs to be perfect since this may be her and Piper's last night together. So much is unknown but she tries not to think about it as she finishes cleaning the table, and then moves to tend to the food. Instead, the lone survivor of Vault 111 tries to find the good that has come out of this. It has mainly been the people she has met and helped along the way. Just to see how happy she has made the settlers by giving them something so simple as a place to live is heart warming. It took a while, and a few bouts of chem and alcohol addiction, but Nora has finally come to the realization that this is her life now and after tomorrow her previous one needs to be left behind her. Her search for her son has been never ending, but Nora's outlook on everything changed after meeting Piper and forming a bond with the animated Diamond City reporter. Once they admitted how they felt about each other she began to look forward to the future, but now the future is looking bleak.

She stops for a moment as a wave of sadness washes over her while thoughts of everyone she has ever loved run through her mind. Nora walks out to the balcony of her newly constructed home and looks to the two areas that always bring back horrible memories. The first is of her old home that she now has a shelter next to and the next is the vault up on the hill that she crawled out of a short time ago. Wrapping her arms around herself Nora sighs a little. She hates the fact that they are so close and has been wanting to move since her life got a little bit of normal mixed into all of her kayos. They just got settled and the move makes no sense, but the memories are too fresh for her to stay here, but after today it may not matter.

Nora is not sure when she walked out of her new home, and into her old one, but she soon finds herself standing next to Shaun's crib. She hasn't been in his room since she first walked out of the vault and found Codsworth. The lone Vault one eleven survivor refused to step foot into her old home after that day until she knew that her son was alive and within her grasp, but even after she found proof of that fact she had no reason to come here. Finding her son was her one and only focus and she did not want lose hope, but her focus changed as she found that no one in the commonwealth had hope. The more Nora helped however, the more she found that people's outlook began to change for the better and it makes her want to continue to help but that may not be the case. It pisses her off to no end to think that after all of the good that she has done and all of the heartache she has been through that her time may be at an end. She has never been one to be selfish but she deserves to be happy. She deserves to find her son, have a life with Piper, and the family that was taken away from her.

Nora is so caught up in her thoughts that she doesn't hear Piper walk into the room until the reporter clears her throat to get her attention.

"Hey "Blue". Codsworth said you were over here." Piper says carefully. She has called her "Blue" since they met due to the vault jumpsuit she had worn, and the name just stuck.

"You...you okay?" She didn't want to startle her, but could tell that her lover was deep in thought. More than likely she has been thinking about her son and what the future may hold, and as exciting as it is there is that worry that Shaun will not want anything to do with his mother.

Piper had just arrived back to sanctuary after visiting her sister Nat in Diamond City, and is looking forward to their night together. It is to be the first time in a long time where there wasn't a colony to help, or mission to go on and the two were to be alone. Nora had been in a great mood before Piper left and it was infectious to say the least. The two hundred year old woman who looks surprisingly good for her age, has always had a sad look to her, like there was something missing. Soon Piper learned what that something was and has been trying to help Nora get her son back ever since, so to see her in a good mood warmed Pipers heart. Their relationship quickly turned into something more then friends and the Diamond City reporter wanted to see the rare and beautiful smile from Nora that shows itself every so often when she arrived back to their new home, but unfortunately now doesn't seem to be one of those times.

Piper barely sees the nod in reply to her question, but takes the outstretched hand from her lover who is obviously upset about something. She doesn't ever remember Nora coming here before and the normally inquisitive Piper would have asked why, but she figures the crib was just a symbolic way to pray that she sees her son again, and she'd be right, and wrong.

"I'm okay now that you're here." Nora wipes at the tears that have formed at the corner of her eyes. "How long have I been over here?" She asks after pulling the raven haired reporter in for a hug.

"Uh, not too long I guess. Just got back myself and was looking forward to that meal you promised." Piper misses the closeness they share as well as being able to look into her lovers eyes. They are a lighter shade of blue that Piper has never seen before, and she has found herself on numerous occasions getting lost in them.

"Sorry, I began to think about tomorrow and seeing Shaun again and I guess I ended up at his crib finally, and..."

"Wait, this is his crib?" Piper asks in disbelief as realization strikes as to who this house belongs to.

"I uh, yes it is." Nora lowers her head and closes her eyes while she berates herself for not telling Piper sooner.

"I know I should have told you, but there was always something that would come up and I didn't want it to be awkward or something. Kind of like it is now I guess." She says with a nervous laugh as she hopes Piper isn't mad if the look on her face indicates what she is thinking. She isn't sure why she never told Piper about the house she used to live in, especially since Piper was the first person she told about her missing son. No matter, since her lover doesn't seem to mind.

"It's okay Blue." She says with a reassuring smile. She places two fingers under her chin and lifts so she can look into her lovers eyes and reassure her.

"You don't have to explain anything. I always knew you were from the commonwealth, and I was right apparently." She says extending her arms out as she looks around the house. "I just didn't think we were living this close." The reporter has been here before as with all of the other houses that are still standing to scrounge for parts. As she looks around the broken down home she realizes that this is the first time that she has taken her lovers former home in, and now she can actually visualize what it may have looked like.

She can see how happy Nora and her husband must have been after their son was born. Piper can even envision what a normal couple doing normal day to day life things may have looked like before the war. It causes her to smile, but also a slight bit of guilt goes along with it, since Piper is happy that now _they_ get to spend _their_ days together doing normal things together, even if that includes killing a death claw.

"Well I guess they don't make it like this anymore." Piper says walking into another room.

"No they don't." Nora says back, kind of amazed that her old house is still standing. "In fact they don't make much like they used to." She says matter-of-factly while thinking of the home or shelter that they live in now. "But its not as nice as I remember it."

"Oh it's not that bad. Why with some hard work, a can of paint, some wood, screws, steal, and maybe some adhesive...a couple of fuses...aluminum...glass...some rubber...oh and concrete, can't forget concrete... a feather duster and a few decades of elbow grease we could have this baby looking like new in no time." This causes Nora to laugh a little, come up behind her, and slip her arms around her lover. She kisses the side of Pipers cheek and then moves to her ear.

"I missed you." Nora whispers causing Piper to lean her head back and close her eyes as a warm sensation moves through her body. They had only been apart for a few days, but after being on missions together for months on end, those few days felt like a lifetime.

Nora continues to kiss her lovers neck and take in her scent while her hands roam over familiar areas, causing Piper to breath deeply, and lean into her lovers body. She turns around and the couple kisses each other deeply. Piper reluctantly pulls back to look at her "Blue," and she realizes why she came to look for her lover in the first place.

"Didn't you promise me food when I returned?"

"I did, but..." Nora begins to pout.

"Well I've returned." She says like she is a queen demanding to be served. She always did like it when her father would read to her about ancient times when Piper was younger.

"And I am famished, and in need of sustenance."

"What?" All of Nora's blood has rushed out of her head until she hears Piper babble on oddly, and walk away. They were kinda in the middle of something, or so she thought.

"I'm hungry." She says obviously, with wide eyes and her brow raised. Her appetite came before pretty much anything she was in the middle of and it amazed and frustrated Nora, especially now.

Seeing the look on Nora's face with her eyes glazed over, Piper smiles a seductive smile, slowly walks to her lover, kisses her, and leans in and whispers that there will be plenty of time for dessert, later. Piper smiles as she finds herself being pulled back to their home so they can eat together and then spend the evening alone for more than just the obvious reasons. Both Valentine and Preston told her that Nora looked more and more depressed each day she was gone and Codsworth recently overheard her scream about something while sitting alone in their home, and it is causing concern. Since tomorrow is so important, Piper realizes that she has to keep Nora's hope of seeing her son again alive. She's been through, and done so much that she deserves to be happy and finally get what was taken from her all those years ago, and Piper will do anything in her power to make sure that happens.

* * *

" _Manual override initiated. Cryogenic stasis suspended."_

"This is the one. Here."

"Open it."

"Is it over? Are we okay?"

"Almost. Everything is going to be fine."

'Shaun Crying'

"Let the boy go. I'm only going to tell you this once."

"I'm not giving you Shaun!"

'Gunshot'

A feeling of helplessness, then nothing.

"At least we still have the backup."

 _"Cryogenic sequence reinitialized."_

* * *

 **October 23, 2287**

 _"Critical failure in Cryogenic Array. All Vault residence must vacate immediately."_

Those words echo through her mind, and as the door to her cryo- chamber opens and she falls to the floor. Nora tries desperately to rid herself of those visions while trying to reach her family, but the memories of her husband being killed and son taken are too fresh and too real in her mind and she needs to reassure herself that it was only a nightmare, but her body isn't cooperating. Her mind is racing as she crawls to her husbands chamber, and she can only guess how long she's been in here judging by the state of the run down vault. Pulling herself up onto unstable legs she slowly moves towards Nate.

"Come on! There has to be a release...Come on, come on, come on." Her heart is racing as she finally finds the lever to open the chamber and the door slowly opens.

"Oh God." She cries as the horror of those memories become reality. That her husband is dead, child gone, and she has no idea where to go to now until she remembers something. Nora saw the face of one of the people responsible, and even though it may not be enough, it's a start.

She has no idea how long it has been and the thought of everyone being dead, and her never seeing her son again race though her mind. Falling to the floor, she sobs uncontrollably at the heartache and loss she feels. They were so happy and full of life, and had been blessed with a bright future, but that all changed the day the bomb fell.

How many people died that day? How many suffered the aftereffects of the Nuclear fallout? And how safe can it actually be outside of the Vault especially since her son was abducted and husband murdered? There are more questions right now, but the one that keeps repeating itself since they were told they'd be safe in the vault is... "What the fuck happened?"

"I'll find who did this and I'll get Shaun back. I promise." Nora says while looking on in disbelief. She takes her husbands hand in her own and kisses it, then gently pulls the ring off of his finger so she has something of his to hold on to.

She has no idea what to do, no idea where to go, no idea what to think, so she sits there staring at her husbands lifeless body. After a moment she composes herself and looks at the other chambers. Anything is easier then looking at Nate right now and she figures that if she's alive then maybe someone else survived as well, but as she checks each one she finds that not to be the case, and the question... "What the fuck happened?"... Is asked again.

 _"Malfunction in Cryo Pod manual release override."_ A voice states when she tries to open another pod.

"Oh God. Why would Vault- Tec do this?" She says upon reaching the last chamber and finding another corpse. She closes her eyes and leans her forehead on the door of the pod and tries to think of what her next step should be, but her mind can only focus on Nate and her son.

"Hello?!" Nora calls out after hearing a noise off in the distance.

Opening the door, she looks to see if anyone may be there but it is difficult to see down the dimly lit hallway. She begins to wonder how she was kept alive and how healthy she actually is as another coughing fit happens and she struggles for breath. After a moment of rest, Nora continues to walk through the hallway of the vault but has yet to find any survivors.

Another automated voice comes over the speaker letting her know that the emergency exit door is inoperable and to contact a Vault Tec maintenance representative, which she plans on doing and more. She finally finds a door that does work and slowly walks through it until she comes across the first living being, but it isn't Human. The hairs on her arms and neck stand up as she sees one of her worst fears come true, even though it isn't the half of what's to come.

"Giant roaches! What the Hell." She tries to hold in the contents of her stomach to no avail after stomping on the enormous bug.

Normally a can of spray would work but these new mutated versions may require something a little more. After she comes across her first dead body in a Vault 111 suit that's long since decomposed is when she realizes that there probably aren't any survivors. She searches through some papers to try and find answers, but nothing is helpful. It looks like everything of importance has been cleared out and the occupants murdered. Someone didn't want the secrets of this Vault to be revealed and she wonders if the person responsible for the dead bodies she continues to find was caused by the same man who killed her husband and took her son.

Continuing her search, Nora is trying to keep her composure and nerves under control, but she has this nagging feeling that she may find something else worse than the giant bugs she's encountered so far, but is soon surprised to find that she is the only Human alive. She relaxes a little after finding a pistol and some ammo, then a Pip-boy so she can finally leave the Vault, but she will soon find that her adventure is just beginning.

" _Enjoy your return to the surface. And thank you choosing Vault- Tec."_

The light from the sun is nearly blinding and it takes a moment for her vision to focus as her eyes try to adjust when the elevator reaches the surface. Once her vision returns to normal the lone Vault 111 survivor is shocked to witness the barren wasteland that is in front of her. Vegetation is nonexistent and the bomb has definitely left its lasting effect. So much so that she can actually see her house from the top of the cliff and something seems to be moving near her former home.

She nearly breaks her leg while climbing down the face of the steep rock hill, but there is something familiar about the floating robot currently tending to the outside of her old house.

"Codsworth!" She says in relief as she reaches her home.

"As I live and breath!" The Mr. Handy robot exclaims excitedly. "It's...It's really you?"

"Codsworth! What happened...to the world?" Nora asks. She never thought she'd be this excited to see this flying pain in the ass, since he was always in the way and extremely long winded, but she will make an exception for now; getting him was Nate's idea.

He begins to explain about the geraniums still being the talk of the town and how dull it has been which Nora can only shake her head at since this scarp of metal hasn't retained anything that has happened; her house and everything else is destroyed. He then asks where her better half is and the sudden urge to run back to the Vault so she can see Nate one last time hits her hard.

"They came into the Vault..." She says in a shaky voice. "Maybe you saw them?...They had guns and strange outfits?" She asks but his response about Mrs. Rosa's son running around in his Halloween costume doesn't help in the least. Mentioning that she is the perfect mother and would never allow young Shaun to do such a thing nearly crushes her.

"And where is sir, by the by?" He asks again in his annoying British accent.

"They...they killed him." Nora finds that she has become numb to the fact of her husbands passing, and is able to talk about Nate's death like the weather. Or is it shock?

"Mum these things you say...these terrible things...I...I believe you need a distraction. Yes! A distraction to calm this dire mood." It almost sounds like Codsworth actually cares what she is saying but all Nora can focus on is trying not to collapse from exhaustion. Codsworth's next statement erases the fatigue and replaces it with anger.

"It's been ages since you've had a proper family activity. Checkers or perhaps charades. Shaun does so love that game. Is the lad with you?"

"No dammit! Shauns been kidnapped!" She tries to calm herself after her focus turns towards finding her son. "But I'm going to find him. I'm going to get my baby back."

Nora attempts to walk into her old, run down home to look for any signs that they brought Shaun back here. Even if it was just for a moment, Nora wants to see if she can find anything that may help her, and possibly eat and rest when she stops in her tracks as the Mr. Handy robot suddenly becomes helpful.

"It's worse than I thought. Your suffering from hunger induced paranoia. Not eating properly for two hundred years will do that, I'm afraid."

"That's not possible. I wasn't out that long!" She can feel her heart rate rise as reality is setting in. "Not two hundred years."

"A bit over two hundred and ten actually, mum. Give or take a little for the Earth's rotation and some minor dents to the ole chronometer."

The lone Vault 111 survivor stops listening after Codsworth reaffirms how much time has passed. How could this be and what is she going to do now? Surely the people who took her son are long since gone, and that could include Shaun as well.

The last thing she remembers is making her way to Shaun's crib, falling to her knees and sobbing uncontrolably at the loss she feels. The Vault 111 survivor is truly alone now and she makes the decision to join her family, but before she can squeeze the trigger she gets hit from behind and as she passes out she sees Codsworth breaking her weapon and saying something about how he will take care of his Mum, even if it's from herself, as long as he is still together, no matter what.


End file.
